New Year resolutions are promises to yourself. Promises that you’re supposed to keep, but when you break them, they go unpunished. That’s why I am born.
I walked out towards the busy streets of New York City. It’s too crowded. Even a demon like me thinks there’s way too many people. I took a deep breath, trying to catch any smells of guilt. Smoke, food, and something else. What was that? I took another sniff and realized that it was guilt. Pushing through the waves of people, I followed the sickly scent.
It led me to a young man. Probably in his mid twenties or so. He was chatting on his phone. Well, I wouldn’t call it chatting. It was more like he was yelling at his phone. The man let out a frustrated sigh and jabbed his phone to end what I thought was a call. I wondered what resolution he broke. It might be some boring thing like, oh, he doesn’t want to be late for work but he’s late because his Uber driver was stuck in traffic. That would explain why he was yelling at the phone, but that would not explain the huge scent of guilt that radiated over him.
Walking slowly towards the man, I realized that he was texting somebody, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if someone was looking at what he was texting, I assumed. I turned around and took a glance at his phone. It consisted of:
Ron: What do you want?
Weasley: Did you hide the body?
Ron: We shouldn’t be talking here. The government is always watching.
Weasley: Why would they pay attention to two normal business men?
Ron: I must leave, there is someone paying attention to me right now.
I smirked as he came walking over to me, as a quick fake smile washed over his face. He introduced himself to me. “Hello! You seem new here, do you have any questions about NYC? It’s a pretty great place,” he said. I quickly thought of a cover story, as I wanted to get to know my victim before punishment. “I am on a business trip, the name’s Hype Beast.” Ron laughed as I said that earning a quick what from me. He replied it was nothing and just a joke among the NYC people.
“So, just out of curiosity, what’s your New Year’s resolution? I’m collecting samples of citizen’s resolutions for a survey.” I said, wanting to get to business quick.
“Oh, it’s just nothing more than a diet you know. Gotta lose some pounds.” Ron smiled.
“That’s not the case. You murdered someone didn’t you? Judging from that, I say that you have some sort of anger issue and lost control and actually killed someone. What a shame that you didn’t manage to keep your resolution. What a shame.” I whispered, shaking my head.
“You’re more than a business missionary, aren’t you?”
“You can say that.”
Ron instantly dropped his briefcase and instantly took off in a sprint. I watched him run and gave him a head start. This should be amusing, I thought as I checked the time to see that 5 minutes had passed, and I instantly teleported to him. Being a demon has its perks, doesn’t it :). As he slammed into me and fell onto the floor, he began asking me numerous questions.
“Who are you? P-p-p-please.”
“You will find out soon. And don’t try to run. You know for a fact that I can catch up.”
“Please I promise I will never do it again. Just give me one more chance”
As I sighed and told him “You broke your promise once, and once is more than enough.
Your resolution was to not lose control, and to find a way to deal with your anger and afterall,
you failed.”
The Swerve 